Our idea of economic progress is "wildly misleading," our failure to respond to warnings of impending environmental disaster is "institutional failure write large" and we need a "transformative change" in our thinking.

Those are just some of the conclusions of major new review by one of the world's leading economists compiled for the UK government's Treasury.

The near-500 page report, released on Tuesday, linked biodiversity to wealth in a radical reimagining of how Western society views nature and the economy. From a change in methods of measuring the economy, to "Nature Studies" being taught in all schools and throughout later life, the Dasgupta Review has set a challenge to policymakers and the public, to "be naturalists."

It is significant that it was commissioned by the government department responsible for the health of the UK's economy, (the world's sixth largest) rather than its environment department.

The author, Cambridge University's Partha Dasgupta, was commissioned to write the report by former UK finance minister Philip Hammond, to inspect how the economy reflects the way humanity uses the planet – and threatens biodiversity.

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Dasgupta was joined by world-famous British naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough, who started his foreword with the stark warning: "We are facing a global crisis. We are totally dependent upon the natural world."

"By bringing economics and ecology together, we can help save the natural world at what may be the last minute – and in doing so, save ourselves," he wrote. 

The review challenged the hegemony of GDP as a measure of wealth, success and modern society – and instead suggested incorporating measures of nature and ecosystems, along with human-made elements of economy. 

Dasgupta, harked back to the words of the father of modern capitalism Adam Smith, whose seminal text The Wealth of Nations sought to explain international and industrial economy. 

"The founding father of economics asked after the wealth of nations, not the GDP of nations," Dasgupta wrote. 

By its nature, he argued GDP is useless to measure what a country has – but does a good job at measuring what it has made and sold. 

"GDP is a flow (so many market dollars of output per year), in contrast to inclusive wealth, which is a stock," he explained. 

New metric

A new measure of global and local economies would focus humanity on the importance of dwindling biodiversity, Dasgupta argued, by including ecosystems and nature in the measure of wealth. His review pointed to the Gross Ecosystem Product measure, used in China, as one way of incorporating biodiversity and the built economy. 

He also suggested a major change was needed in global agriculture and, although the review stopped short of recommending veganism, stressed that meat has a huge impact on the planet.

The review has been welcomed by scientists. Adrian Smith, president of the Royal Society, said: "The Dasgupta Review could not be more timely or more critical. At G7 and UN summits this year, world leaders, policy experts, and financial decision-makers will be charting the global response to the linked threats of biodiversity loss and climate change and the green recovery from COVID-19." 

He said the review was "rooted in the evidence of ecology and environmental science but speaks the language of national and financial institutions."

Adding: "Transforming these institutions, and their measurements of success, is vital to ensure that short-term economic growth is no longer decoupled from the long-term sustainability of the biosphere."

The UK government said it would respond to the report in due course but Prime Minister Boris Johnson has welcomed it, saying it "makes clear that protecting and enhancing nature needs more than good intentions – it requires concerted, co-ordinated action."